The Gold Rush
The Akshaya Tritiya festival is one of the two most auspicious days of the year to buy gold, as Hindus believe they can get lasting prosperity by buying precious metals on the day. The other festival is Dhanteras in November.

A man films a gold-plated Infiniti G37 at a jewelry store in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, March 31, 2011. It took five artisans over four months to complete the task which aims to promote the store, Xinhua News Agency reported. REUTERS/China Daily

Vienna Philharmonics gold coins are arranged in the shape of a cake at a jewellery shop in Tokyo February 28, 2006. The 250 million yen ($ 2.16 million) Vienna Coin cake was on display from March 1 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's birthday. REUTERS/Toshiyuki Aizawa

An artwork of rabbits pounding "mochi" or rice-cakes, decorated with 20g of 24K gold, is displayed during an unveiling in Tokyo November 25, 2010. Ginza Tanaka unveiled the artwork, sized at 3.2cm (1.2 inches) in height and 5cm (1.9 inches) in width ahead of next year, which is the year of the rabbit. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao

A 475,000 euros gold watch is displayed before the opening of the Grand Luxe exhibition in Brussels, October 30, 2008. The exhibition gathers high luxury items including cars and jewellery and focuses on gastronomy, art and fashion. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir